You’ve had an accident, but now you need to work out whether your kart is bent. Kart manufacturers design their chassis’ a lot softer these days. That's to try and counter the softer tires racers use. A softer chassis absorbs a lot of that flex when drivers are cornering. Now we're seeing a lot of karts having accidents because drivers are going at higher speeds which is sometimes too fast for kids.

So now suddenly, some of these seven to 10-year-old kids are driving as fast around the turns as what X30 is doing. The nature of the tire is so sticky, the kids are almost flat out around a lot of the corners. Now when it comes to having an accident, how do we know whether our chassis is bent or not?

The first way to try and assess whether your kart is bent is by putting it onto a kart jig. That's not always possible because there might not be anyone at the track that has a jig. But if there is someone there, whether it's a team or a shop, that's the best way to test it. It requires the front and rear wheels to be removed & possibly the rear hubs to come off the kart. Then place the kart into a jig, which is a level stationary platform, and then they check all the measurements. So, whether that's the rear rails, the c-sections, or just naturally whether it's up or down on one side of the kart. But it's a lot truer and easier way to assess the side to side whether everything's straight.

Need more information now on kart setup, then we have a dedicated setup program there for you.

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With more than 30 drivers on a race track that is less than one kilometer long, no matter how much we prepare there will always be a tussle or two in the opening corners. Sadly it may be the end of your race if you are directly caught up in this.

It’s super important to be looking as far ahead as you can to see what is happening. If you’re starting in the mid-pack, look towards the front row. If there’s a skirmish there, it gives you time to take evasive action. Are karts starting to spin or lose control? Anticipate in which direction these karts are going and drive the opposite way.

Too many drivers focus on the front of their kart, not 2-3 rows in front. So when an accident occurs in front of them, they don’t have enough time to process where to go, and they drive straight into the incident.

Despite looking easy after it has been broken down for you in this article, the conditions on track are far different. There you will find only a few seconds to make such a crucial decision. These reflexes are what makes drivers almost superhuman and is something that can be trained and practiced.

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Today I'm looking at how to check your chain tension. Now, when it comes to chains, I find they're wearing out a lot faster than what they previously were. That could be down to the quality of the chains, or it could be that we're now driving faster engines.

With drivers being on the track for more practicing, a lot of these factors are wearing out chains a lot faster. If mechanics are not on top of the chain tension, we're going to find too much slack in the chain, and we might have more mechanical failures or just the performance of our kart is not the same.

Low performance categories, such as four stroke karts & cadets’ karts can have a little bit slacker in that chain because there's less power to flick that chain off. As a rule, when it comes to, Mini Rok cadet engines, once it's all fitted, you can move your fingers up and down to see how tight the chain is. We aim for it to just touch the front chain guard that goes onto the engine, not the rear chain guard.

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Over the last 12-18 months Kart Class has been working on a new feature to answer peoples questions (immediately!).

Now if you're unsure of what setup adjustment to make at the race track, don't know what tyre pressure to use, or a certain sprocket for over 30 circuits, Kart Classes latest invention APEX will help!

Simply type in your question & receive feedback in seconds on what to do.

APEX has a waiting list with early subscribers gaining access next week.

So don't miss out on the latest invention to join the Kart Class team & sign up here: APEX (kartclass.com) 

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Winning races comes down to being fast, but also being consistent.

That might mean stringing 10 laps in a row within 1 tenth of a second. What this does is, by making less mistakes, chasing drivers will find it harder to overtake and beat you.

Consistency means finding the same markings around the track and aiming to hit these points lap after lap.

Drivers should be looking out for landmarks around the circuit and not using a shadow as this will change from lap-to-lap and session to session.

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Motor Racing is all about driving fast and trying to beat your competition.

But sometimes that means we need to overtake our competitors to get in-front and win the race.

Nerves, confidence and choosing the right corners are all important when it comes to learning how to overtake other drivers.

Setting up a pass so that the driver doesn't get you back the following turn or switch you back on the exit.

We try providing tips and techniques to listeners to make efficient overtakes and stay ahead of the pack. 

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Today we're discussing go-kart rear axles. When it comes to motor racing, cars have suspension. So karting is different because the rear axle acts like a suspension. It might flex a little bit here and there depending on the stiffness of the axle, but realistically it doesn't spring like suspension does. 

So, it's important to use it as a tuning tool depending on the conditions that you are driving in. You might find if it's 15 degrees or it's 35 degrees, you might have to use a different axle, or depending on the tire compound or the changing grip levels across a race weekend.

Drivers & mechanics can also change the length of the axle. The different stiffnesses change how much the kart flexes in the rear. There are different size axles for cadet karts compared to a senior kart. It's important to know that most kart manufacturers send karts out with a neutral medium axle. Now, the reason why karts are designed around that neutral setup, is it gives you a bigger window to fine tune your setup of the kart. You're very limited with the changes you can make when you're at one end of the spectrum. That’s why kart manufacturers design karts around a neutral setup, and at least that way you can fine tune the chassis it if it's not quite right. You’re able to try a softer axle or to a different length axle.

If you need to learn more information about how to setup your go kart, we have a dedicated Kart Setup Guide, to help you make informed decisions across a race weekend. Check it out here: Go Kart Setup Program (kartclass.com)

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Today we're going to be discussing how to go-kart in the rain. Now, for most of us, we tend to want to drive as it’s easier. When you drive in the rain, things are going to wear out quicker; engines, tires, cleaning the kart, that takes more time. The chances of spinning out are more evident with the wet weather, but let's face it, motor racing is driven in all conditions. So, we need to learn how to drive in all conditions so that we can be prepared for all weather conditions.

When it comes to driving in the wet, we want to choose the right tires and kart set up for the conditions. What we find sometimes is that if it's only a little bit wet, the fastest tire is still a slick tire. It's still a dry tire but you might have to adjust your driving style or your kart setup because there's just not enough water for the treaded wet tires to have enough grip. If there's not enough water on the track, they're going to wear out quickly, so we've got to make sure that we're choosing the right tires for the right conditions. As a rule, I would say that if you're on slick tires and the track is 10 seconds or more off, then usa a wet weather tire. Anything under 10 seconds, then it's probably going to still be a slick tire in the slippery conditions.

Some of the quicker adjustments you can make on the grid or at the last moment, can be to widen the front track by spacing your front wheels out. That increases your front steer which helps in the slippery wet conditions. The other thing is to increase your tire pressures. It might mean if you're normally using 15 PSI, and there's a little bit of drizzle, you might run 20 PSI, so an extra 5 PSI, that might be sufficient to get temperature in the tire. With extra heat, hopefully you can get more grip. Another thing you might want to do is put an air box cover on so that your engine doesn't suck in too much water. If that's the case, then you might find that you have a mechanical.

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Today we're going to be discussing how to find the last one second in kart racing. Now, it can be quite frustrating as you're starting out in karting and you're picking off one to two seconds at a time because you're just starting out and it all seems a little bit too easy. You're like, oh, how good's this going? My times are dropping. Then it comes down to that last second, and it's extremely hard to put it all together to get onto that front pack.

Now, it can be tricky, but we want to look at three key areas as to where drivers are potentially lacking. From my experience of coaching, probably over 1000 or 1500 kids in the last 10 years, these seem to be the three main areas where drivers who are more than one second off seem to be struggling with.

The first point we want to look at is not using the whole racetrack. It might seem simple, but even just giving up 30 centimetres of racetrack on every corner, which some tracks have 12 or more corners, is just slowing you down. So by not using all the track, drivers are either turning the steering wheel a lot more, which slows them down. Or they might be lifting on corners where other drivers are flat out.

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Let’s look at why it’s so important to not just drive at the one circuit. For some people, they don't have the luxury of having a circuit close to them. So, they might have to travel one or two hours away and be forced to just drive at the one circuit. If you are fortunate enough to have a couple of circuits within a reasonable drive, we want to look at the key advantages of experiencing new circuits.

The first advantage is you can get stuck in a rut by just being at the one circuit. Now it feels comfortable, you hit your certain lap times, but after quite a few thousand at the one track, it's hard to then just push yourself out of that comfort zone.

Then suddenly you go to a new circuit, you might be experiencing tighter hairpins or some curbs that you can use, where at your local track, you might not be able to use. They might be a lot more aggressive or rougher. The drop-off in the circuit might be a lot more aggressive, where you're a bit nervous to get to the edge of the track. It could be different camber. It's always very important to learn a positive cambered corner, which is for our readers, like a NASCAR circuit where it's banked.

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